Symposium I - eLearning in Higher Education: Analyzing the present and designing the future

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Coordination and Moderation:

Neuza Pedro, University of Lisbon

Objectives:

i) To make contact with innovative user experiences of environments and digital technologies in higher education
ii) To reflect upon the organizational and pedagogical significance of the integration of digital technologies in teaching practices in the university context
iii) To foresee future stabilities and changes in the context of university education related to the emergence of new technologies and online environments and to the new training formats that have emerging in recent years (e.g. MOOCs, SPOCS among others.)

Dynamics:

This panel is organized in 2 different parts, different in their purpose and format of interventions but that converge in an effort to meet the same objectives.
The 1st part of the panel there will be the presentation of three practical experiences related to the use of digital technologies and environments in higher education: remote labs, use of online social networks and 'lectures on-demand' systems. The implementation methods and the results from such experiments will be discussed.
On the 2nd part of the panel, two experts in e-learning in the context of higher education will be asked to reflect upon the pedagogical and organizational meaning of the integration of digital technologies in the practice of higher education, considering the previously presented experiences and predicting possible future trends in the field of the increasing integration of technologies in the university context.
In a final moment, the initial guests and the audience will be asked to submit inputs raised about the changes that have been emerging in national and international contexts, due to the integration of digital technologies and environments in the context of higher education, particularly in developing new training and new funding models associated with them.

Timeline:

Full Session: 90 minutes
1. 5 min Introduction - Neuza Pedro
2. Presentation of experiences: 10 minutes (each)
Miguel Mira da Silva, IST-UL, Facebook in Engineering teaching
João Monteiro, ISCTE, Lectures on-demand
Teresa Restivo, UPorto, Remote laboratories
3. Commentators: 10-12 min (each)
António Teixeira, UAberta
Paula Peres, IPPorto
4. Questions and comments from the audience: 20-30 min

Guest Speakers:

António Teixeira, UAb
António Teixeira (Lisbon, 1965) is a Professor at Universidade Aberta, the Portuguese Open University (Department of Education and Distance Learning) since 1991, and a researcher at the University of Lisbon (Philosophy Center) since 2004.

From 2006 to 2009, he was Pro-rector for innovation in Distance Learning at Universidade Aberta. In that capacity, he conceived the strategy and managed the university’s successful and speedy transition process from a print-based distance learning institution to a fully online one. He was also responsible for the design and initial implementation of the university’s research lab on distance education (LEaD) and the university’s open access scientific repository (Repositório Aberto). In this university, he was also member of the Assembly (1994-2002; 2006-2009), Senate (1994-98; 2006-2009) and the Distance Education Institute’s Council (1998-2002).

From 2007 to 2009, he was appointed member of the Academic and Administration boards of Asia’s International Open University (UAIA) and of the Portuguese Rectors Council (CRUP) specialized committees on Scientific Research and Knowledge Transfer, and Evaluation, Quality and Innovation. In 2008, he also represented the Portuguese Science, Technology and Higher Education Minister in the Advisory Board Meeting at the ASEM Lifelong Learning Hub, in Beijing.

Over the years, his research has included participation in over a dozen European and U.S.-funded research projects and collaboration in several international task forces on open educational resources, open access, lifelong learning, virtual mobility, international cooperation in higher education, sustainable development and climate change. Additionally, he has co-organized several major international conferences (notably, EDEN Annual Conference 2008, Lisbon; EADTU Anniversary Conference 2007, Lisbon; Open Classroom Conference 2009, Porto).

João Monteiro, ISCTE
Manager of e-Learning service at ISCTE, performs planning and technical and pedagogical support activities in the area of educational technology. He has experience in the design and use of tools and technology solutions in an educational context, and structure of resources in e-Learning platforms. Master in Multimedia in Education from the University of Aveiro and currently attending a PhD in Information and Communication Technologies in Education, University of Lisbon, his areas of interest are e-Learning and distance learning, higher education and technology, educational innovation and organizational change in higher education.

Miguel Mira da Silva, IST- UL
Miguel Mira da Silva is Professor of Information Systems at the Instituto Superior Técnico and is head of the research group "Digital Services Innovation" in INOV. He has a degree and a master degree from Instituto Superior Técnico, a PhD from Glasgow University, and another Master (management) of the London Business School. Over the past five years received "excellent teacher" awards every year, two doctoral students who he supervised completed their PdD, he published over 70 international scientific papers, was responsible for many innovative projects with companies representing over a million euros, created and sold two companies, and participated in the launching, teaching and coordination of the first distance master degree at Instituto Superior Técnico.
 
Paula Peres , IPP
Paula Peres is PhD and post-doctorate in the field of educational technologies.  She is the coordinator of the Unit Innovation in Education at the Communication and Innovation Research Centre ISCAP/Politécnico do Porto (IPP) and a member of the E-Learning Unit at the Politécnico do Porto. She is director of the post-graduate course in Technologies for Business Communication and Innovation, b-learning at ISCAP / IPP, and coordinates the training center and services abroad ISCAP / IPP.

Teresa Restivo, FEUP
Maria Teresa Restivo has a degree in Solid State Physics and a PhD in Engineering Sciences. Her research and teaching activities (at under and postgraduate level), are accomplished within the Automation, Instrumentation and Control Group of the Mechanical Engineering Department (DEMec) of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP). These activities are related with the intelligent control of laboratory/industrial systems, development of sensors also for the health area, virtual instrumentation, remote and virtual labs, wireless sensorization, as well as the use of emergent technologies in training and in education.
She is author (or co-author) of articles, book chapters and books. She has been awarded prizes in R&D areas. She has been project leader and team member at national level, as well as team member of European projects. She has supervised a number of theses. She has four patents, one licensed and one IP pending.
She is coordinator of the System Integration and Process Automation Research Unit at IDMEC-Polo FEUP also integrated in the Associated Laboratory for Energy, Transports and Aeronautics (LAETA). She is member of scientific boards of FEUP, DEMec, LAETA and IDMEC.
She is EC Member of the International Society for Engineering Education (IGIP) and Vice-President of IEEE Edu. Soc. PT, and has the International Engineering Educator (ING-PAED IGIP) qualification.
She is institutional member of GOLC. She is Individual and Institutional Member of the VIT@LIS network and of the ELTF Task Force - EUNIS (European University Information Systems Organization) and of “IT in Engineering Education” and “Tools to Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills”, both working groups of SPEE (Portuguese Society for Engineering Education).